That queasy feeling

Henrik Lundqvist has been fighting a stomach ailment. It’s why he didn’t play on Monday and why he missed the post-game interviews after a win over Boston on Sunday, when he was getting intravenous fluid. Hear the gruesome details and we fumble to understand the ailment.

He still doesn’t know why he was throwing up so much during the game that he needed those fluids. He doesn’t feel sick, he just can’t eat big meals comfortably beginning last week. Lundqvist said he is taking medicine for it now and expects it to clear up.

Does it worry Rangers coach John Tortorella?

“Not for a second,” Tortorella said. He expects Lundqvist will be in goal against Nashville tomorrow.

Nik Antropov didn’t practice today after getting “banged up” in the 3-0 loss to Carolina. Tortorella said he would be ready to go tomorrow as well.

As for the line, Tortorella made his first major switches since taking over. With Antropov out, Aaron Voros played with Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. Sean Avery was on the second line with Scott Gomez and Nikolai Zherdev, and Markus Naslund played with Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callahan.

The last line, Fredrik Sjostrom, Blair Betts and Colton Orr, remained intact.

On defense, Paul Mara played with Michal Rozsival and Derek Morris was with Wade Redden.

Avery said he played with Gomez about half the year in his previous stint as a Ranger.

“I think the way he’s coaching this team is you’re going to be rewarded on how you work,” said Avery, who will see more time with the new line if they are played tomorrow as practiced today.

Everyone was asked about being in ninth place in the standings, and everyone issued some form of the “one game at a time” quote. It was an easy fill in the blank.

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Hey, it’s Carp. Don’t want to start a whole Phil Rizzuto thing here, but I need to wish a Happy 90th Birthday to Marg Cater, one of our loyal readers north of the border, a serious hockey fan, and the mom of an NHL big shot and long-time friend of this blogger. You go, girl.

Danny Devito is making a movie about the life of “Crazy Eddie”. For some reason, I can see it being a great movie. I remember those commercials coming on when I was a kid, and they would be louder than whatever else it was that you were watching at the time, and it would always startle me, but I just couldn’t look away from them.

Watched a great gmae last night by the Coyotes and Detroit. Detroit got a couple of REALLY llucky bounces which led to their victory. But againm, this is such a superb team that they pounce on those opportunistic breaks and capitalize on them.

Many of the lesser teams don’t and Rangers almost never do. This is really an inferior club out on the ice no matter what anyone else says. And it is proving so, game after game. As long as they persist in going with those two inadequate and overpaid defensemen, they will never improve. and some of their lesser lights are inferior also.

I have watched Antropov in his games here so far and am terribly unimpressed. ( Dawes playing for ARizona, skated reasonably well, but he also made some really bad giveaways.

Prucha was his feisty self, and got a regular shift on the ice.

I kept switching to the Devils Calgary game ( in my estimation quite possibly the Cup final teams, and saw some really fine hockey. I wouldn’t want to pick the cup winner between these two. And I repeat ( DETROIT GOT VERY LUCKY!)

For those of you who thought Avery’s penalties were selfish, don’t you think Tortorella would punish him instead of rewarding him if that were the case? He’s not on the 2nd line. I’m not saying Avery was right for taking those penalties, but I think everybody is making too big of a deal out of it. You have to give more ice time to the players who energize your team, simple as that.

Should be interesting to see how Avery and Zherdev work together. I personally would like to see a 2nd/3rd line of Avery, Dubinsky, and Callahan to just overwhelm the other team with energy.

Has Hank seen a doctor other than Jim Ramsay (who’s not one) yet? 10 days of not being able to keep down a heavy meal sounds suspiciously like a gallbladder issue or something other than gastroenteritis. Sounds like our boy needs an ultrasound and some blood work.

Glenn Hall, the hall of famer, used to throw up before every game. Maybe it’s stress.

A balanced line is a playmaker, a sniper, and a board banger. I can see what Tortorella is trying to do with the cards he’s been handed.

The Preds are in a fighting mood. Belak scored a TKO over Brashear, landing a solid left that drove him to the ice. (No one can remember when that happened before.) Tootoo may have broken Bradley’s nose, blood all over the ice, and Belak and Erskine slugged it out to a draw. Weber who had fights in the previous three games was not on the undercard.

Rinne, their sensational rookie goalie, had the flu, so Ellis, the rebound machine, went in, and somehow survived 92 shots by the Caps, 44 on net, 25 blocked, and 23 that missed, only to lose in overtime 2-1.

Arnott had his bell rung and didn’t return. No word on whether he and Rinne will play.

1) I hate what they are doing to fighting right now. I guarantee if this whole non-stage fight rule works out, within the next ten years we will see a rule that completely bans fighting altogether. And even still, there will be no need to players like Colton Orr on our team in the years to come.

2) Gary Bettman sucks and is the worst thing to happen to hockey in this nation.

3) Im glad to see Naslund is on the third line. He really has been slow since Torts took over. I can see him being traded at July 1st

4) With Hank @ 100%, this team might be able to squeeze into that 8th spot.

5) Without Hank @ 100%, there is no chance for us to make it

6) I am really not a big fan of Antropov, I feel like he’s way to slow and is generally always out of position. And when he is, he always trys to pull an extra move.

7) I had the greatest dream last night. Cherepanov was alive and on this team(RIP). Jagr was back here. And Hossa just got traded to this team. They were dominating the Red Wings 5-0 and I was sitting at the game next to Jessica Alba. I’m not sure what could have made it better.

8)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y7I0RY8CHE
Its about Cindy Crosby

9) Avery’s penalties really weren’t that bad. I do not see them as being selfish at all. He was trying to help out the team by getting the puck correct. Do you guys honestly think he was just trying to steal thet puck for his highlight film. And the second one he fell and wanted to take someone out with him like most players do. I’m sure you’ve seen a player fall to the ice when hit and he holds the player that hid him down on the ice.

HAHA good one Kaspar…Rick , ya asked what part of the globe im from ….Saskatoon , Saskatchewan and this morning it was -34 celcious with the winds chill at – 50 !!!! Now its getting better and were at -28 C ..more bearable..maybe thats why luc schenn is so tuff!!?

“7) I had the greatest dream last night. Cherepanov was alive and on this team(RIP). Jagr was back here. And Hossa just got traded to this team. They were dominating the Red Wings 5-0 and I was sitting at the game next to Jessica Alba. I’m not sure what could have made it better.”

What the HECK
March 11th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
7) I had the greatest dream last night. Cherepanov was alive and on this team(RIP). Jagr was back here. And Hossa just got traded to this team. They were dominating the Red Wings 5-0 and I was sitting at the game next to Jessica Alba. I’m not sure what could have made it better.

Nice dream. My dream is tht I am at a Rangers game, it is 1976, and Park and Ratelle are the stars of the game for the Rangers, because they were not traded. The blonde, Agnethe, from ABBA is whispering in my ear that she loves hockey almost as much as she is lusting for me. Rangers beat the Habs, 5-0. I also score multiple times, a bit later in the evening.

heck,
agree with your comment about soccer on skates.
the game has already become to european in style and score. eliminating the 2 line pass has made it easier to trap, instead of harder. the NHL needs to go back to most of the old rules, and they must make the goalies equipment smaller. did you see the size of Fernandez’s pants (not that it helped)and Wards pads were huge.

GardenFaithful,
Would you do me a favor and fly a plane that has a banner on it that says “Dont Ban Fighting from the Hanson Brothers” close to where they are?

Bull Dog,
I’m fine with the Europeans playing here, the celebrations, the two line passes, and smaller pads. I’m would honestly be perfectly fine if they switched to an International ice rink instead of the size we have now. The problem is, not only does fighting bring about order and less-stickwork, it also brings a passion to the game. It shows that these players are willing to sacrifice there faces for the fans.

So why exactly are they stopping fighting? Do the players want it? I doubt it. Do the fans want it? There are a select few fans that don’t like fighting. Fighting is part of the past and the present and should continue on to the future. These players know what could happen if they fight, but they partake anyway. Its all these f’n GMS and Gary Bettman that are destroying the NHL before me eyes.

fighting and fighters are for the protection of the star players. i am an old school hockey fan i grew up with hockey in the mid 70’s and 80’s, and fighting was alot more prevalent then. but to many of the fights today are meaningless, a fight to fight. no baring on the game at all. and the fact of the matter is that today’s fighter cant play a lick. i think that is why you are seeing a push to ban it now.

I just watched TSN talking heads before the Ottawa game…at the end of last year the view of having Spezza-Heatley-Alfie-Fischer under longterm expensive contracts had people talking about them kind of like we talk about the Rangers

These same guys are all upbeat now because of a couple of young guys on the horizon…Ray Ferraro just said “they have a very bright future”

When they were a bottom rung playoff team the future was dark…now that they are a non-playoff lottery contender..the future is bright

Pick up the latest Hockey News, great story by Ken Campbell on Sather , ripping him for his record the last 15 years. In that time frame his teams have just 5 winning seasons and have won just 4 playoff rounds.In addition from 1995-2004 only one first round pick had played more than 200 games- can you guess who? the immortal Boyd Devereaux. Not too impressive for a guy the Ranger Media Guide calls “One of the Great Architects in the History of Hockey Management”.Ken Campbells point is that the Hall of Fame was in a such a hurry to induct him post Oiler cup years at age 54 but his resume is empty since then, and if they were voting today his status would be very iffy getting in.

I miss Pruchs as well, it’ nice to see him getting an actual chance. Whether he can score goals the way he used to, or not, he’s still a good player, and seems to always do something while on the ice if he’s not scoring. Hopefully he makes Slats, and Renney look like fools, and goes back to his scoring ways.

Dan, in all honesty that was one of the better hockey articles I have read in all of my years being a fan. Being someone who has backed prucha and i just loved the way he played, so hard every night it feels good to hear him say how awesome it was to come out and play and hear the crowd chant PRUUUUUU!. Wish him and dawes the best of luck i hate to say it but i hope he kickes our ass’s and makes us wrong about his play.

I am really suprised that the media finally admits that the Rangers, who for years, do not get the calls. It always sickening to me to see them play at home and get treated like the road team. Maybe, we should expect it on the road, but the home team should always get the benifit of the doubt/
Colin Campbell is in charge of the officials and he still has sour grapes about getting fired by Rangers.

Its a joke because, when the Rangers play well, it creates interest in the whole league!

Stupid NHL seems never to get it right!
Whether its losing ESPN, using the ridiculous Versus
never knowing how to promote the greatest sport in the world!

buffalo is not going to make it. Miller is not even skating. he is weeks away from playing again. that leaves one spot.

either Fla or Canes are going to drop out, and Rangers will get that spot. remember, Canes just missed out the past 2 years by blowing games at the end of the season, and Fla has not even been near the playoffs for many years.

Did anyone see the Canes / Hawks game? I see that the ref called a penalty on Jonathan Toews with only a minute left in the game with the Hawks up 2-1…..Ruttuu scored PP goal with 30 or so seconds remaining to tie it up….

The Habs are in because of the six teams fighting for the last 4 spots, they play half of their remaining games against Tampa, Atlanta, Isles, Ottawa and Toronto. Plus they are at home a whole bunch.

Of the other teams, their schedules are of similar difficulty. The Rangers don’t necessarily have it harder or easier than anyone else, including Florida and Carolina. Problem is that Carolina and the Pens are playing great hockey and will get in, leaving the Rangers, Florida and Sabres for the last spot. Buffalo is without Miller and Florida is withour Horton and McCabe, so that works in our favor. What we will probably see is that this team is good enough to contend for a playoff spot (not the sliding, losing bunch we saw under Renney) but still not good enough to get in. The saving grace is that now that Torts is here there will be a take no prisoners approach, so in the off-season those who do not fit in here will be jettisoned no matter what that takes (and that appears to be starting with Naslund who I guarantee will not be here next year). And when guys with heavy contracts like Redden have to be simply waived, Dolan wil be unhappy and Sather will wind up stepping down as GM. So in the end its all good.

Back to hockey:
Fighting will never be “eliminated” in hockey. It will never be legislated out of hockey. BUT!!! It will diminish considerably, and it will come in the form of LEAGUE CONTRACTION. We are in a depression. It will make the Great Depression look like lost lunch money in comparison. WHEN the league contracts, there should be 18-24 teams (closer to 18). At that point there would be rosters full of NHL caliber players top to bottom. So you would have scraps like the old days. In an 18 team league, you would still have Sean Avery, Mike Richards, Jerome Iginla, Vinny L, etc. But at that point, these guys would be fighting with purpose albeit rarely. And they wouldn’t be these sideshow freaks like Boogard, Fritz, and dare I say Colton Orr. These guys are LOUSY hockey players. And on a PURE hockey level, they are EMBARRASSMENTS.

And quite frankly, I think contraction would be the best thing to happen to hockey. In more ways than one.

Montreal and Philadelphia will be the two teams on the outside looking in when it’s all said and done.

That’s really just my vibe right now.

Tonight — Rangers 2, Nashville 1 (regulation)

Tell me this isn’t a solid hockey weekend I have on tap:
Pulling the home and home… Heading to Philly tomorrow night after work, staying over at a friend’s, and then going to the game Saturday afternoon. Taking Amtrak home immediately after the game to play in my usually Saturday skate. Probably going out afterwards, admittedly. Then, back at the Garden in my usual spot for the 12:30 match.

I’ve been saying this on this blog for the past few weeks. The rangers will never amount to anything as long as darth sather is the GM. Darth Sather has no plan, he just likes giving out ridiculous contract’s to mediocre players. The only thing I’m looking forward to is the off season to see if darth sather gets it and dumps a combination of rosival, rerdden, drury or Gomez because if he doesn’t the rangers are going to be mediocre for a long time.

Taking a step back and looking at this franchise long-term, it’s really depressing that we’ve gone so long without being a force in this league. The Rangers have an inherent advantage over most other teams in that we are in New York. Even without a financial advantage now due to the salary cap, players generally WANT to be in NY. Yet, our management is so inept, they haven’t even been able to use this to their advantage. The Yankees are a great example of how to use NY to advantage. I know the Yanks can use financial muscle as well b/c there’s no salary cap, but in addition to the money, players rather be with a historic franchise in NYC as opposed to some team in say, Milwaukee or Nashville. There’s plenty to do in NY, the building is packed every night, and if you make it big you make it BIG. It is unbelievable and depressing that the team hasn’t had the smarts to capitalize on this for decades (excepting roughly the 91-94 period). We could be selective, and instead, as tomg said, we bring in mediocre players on ridiculous contracts.

The Yankees are the PRIMARY example of how to destroy the inherent advantage oofferd by New York. For a decade they have been the OLDEST team in all of professional sports, and every year they and their supporters wonder why, with all the big names under contract, they keep receding – from World Champions in 2000 – to World Series Losers – to Division Winners – to “wild card” playoff teams – all the way down the shaft to not making the playoffs in 2008. A consistent, steady decline and erosion eveb with names like Clemens, Randy Johnson, A-Rod, Giambi, Mussina, Pettitte – so many big names on the FA table, and yet they continue to regress.

I agree, Rangers management is virtually clueless, from player acquistion to retaining wash-out embarrassment players far beyond the time to dispatch them, it is one freakin’ horror show for their fans. But PLEASE – don’t try to pass off the Yankees as “Exhibit A” for how to run a franchise. The Yankees dumb-ass owner was telling his GM to WIN IT ALL, every year, so that the GM was never given a chance to build from within. So that their farm system is almost always barren and the big name guys they bring in are always on the downside, career-wise. This year, Texeira and Sabathia represent two ot the youngest FA’s the Yankees have ever brought in, so maybe they are catching on to the fact that old guys with long-term contracts just drag you down. Imagine – signing an infirm catcher – Posada – to a FOUR YEAR DEAL, at the age of 36! That is the Yankees of the last 10 years for you – about as stupid and impatient a franchise as ever existed. The Rangers should learn from all this myopic Yankees mis-management, but that is asking a lot.

The Rangers are awful when it comes to management, but the Yankees are the WORST.

What the Heck: “I had the greatest dream last night. Cherepanov was alive and on this team(RIP). Jagr was back here. And Hossa just got traded to this team. They were dominating the Red Wings 5-0 and I was sitting at the game next to Jessica Alba. I’m not sure what could have made it better.”

You had a dream that Marcel Hossa was back on this team, and you are HAPPY about it? I would have considered it a nightmare…

I’m afraid we are saddled with those contracts – no-one is going to take them on for any price. Roszival is the only one that someone might take a risk on, Gomez’s is too long (and rich) and Redden and Drury don’t look like 6.5 and 7 million dollar men right now.

Buyouts aren’t exactly feasible as we get hit with 1/3rd the value of the cap hit but for twice the length of the contract. Do you think Darth Sather is going to want a $2m+ cap hit for the next 10 years reminding him about Redden?

The only way forward is hope that Torts gets them going and playing close to the level expected of them night in, night out. We keep getting glimpses of what these guys are good at, but not every night. Maybe Torts more aggressive style with give them a bit of a confidence boost.

The good news is that because we’re going to be tight against the cap for the next 3-4 years is that we will be forced to blood a couple of young forwards and d-men each year. I would love to see AA, Grachev and Sanguinetti here next year.